Trailing by 14 points less than five minutes into a game is a position the Lincoln-Sudbury football team hasn't found itself in all season. But L-S was able to battle back, and once the Warriors settled down and got going, there was no stopping them.

By Jared Keene/Daily News Correspondent

SUDBURY — Trailing by 14 points less than five minutes into a game is a position the Lincoln-Sudbury football team hasn't found itself in all season.

With the way the Warriors have been scoring points this campaign — averaging 45.3 per contest through eight games — it's often been the other way around, with L-S usually the team that's up by two touchdowns early in the first quarter.

Yet the top-seeded Warriors found themselves in unfamiliar territory when No. 4 Masconomet held a two-touchdown lead just 4:14 into Friday night's Division 2 North semifinal. But L-S was able to battle back, and once the Warriors settled down and got going, there was no stopping them.

Led by the play of junior quarterback Braden O'Connell and its multi-dimensional rushing attack, L-S scored 52 unanswered points on its way to a 52-21 victory at Myers Field.

With the win, the Warriors (9-0) will host North Andover in the sectional finals next Friday at 7 p.m. Masconomet falls to 6-3.

“We played well,” L-S coach Tom Lopez said. “Offensively and defensively, we played about as well as we could play after the first five minutes of the game when we fell asleep. I'm really proud. Braden played very well, Andrew Marshall and James Dillon ran well, we had two interceptions on defense, and no turnovers.

"When you put it all together, it was a good effort by the kids.”

The Chieftains came out and stunned L-S on the game's first play from scrimmage. Peter Kitsakos took a handoff on a jet sweep, got the edge, and raced up the right sidelines for a 73-yard score. William Garten's point after made it 7-0 17 seconds in.

After a Warrior three-and-out, Masconomet — starting with the ball on its own 30 — caught L-S off guard by going deep on its first play, with Matt Brockelman hitting Jack Seymour for 53 yards. Four plays later, Kitsakos found paydirt for the second time, scoring from six yards out and Garten's point after made it 14-0 with 6:49 on the clock.

“Early on, we didn't come out hot, but we just had to keep positive,” Warriors senior linebacker Will Sidari, who blocked a punt and returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown, said. “Everybody on the sideline played a role in ... trying to keep the energy up. But we knew we had the firepower and the ability to rally back.”

That's when L-S kicked it into high gear, as the Warriors responded with touchdown runs of two and six yards from Marshall (2 rush TD) and Dillon, respectively, the latter of which made it 14-14 with 6:34 left in the first half. Dillon's touchdown capped a 10-play drive — all of which were runs as L-S's ground game led by its athletic offensive line began to wear down the Chieftains.

“We just had to keep pounding,” O'Connell, who rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another, said. “We knew that our game-plan would end up paying off if we stuck with it. Throughout the game, our coaches did a great job adapting to what their defense was doing and that helped out a lot, especially in the run game. The [offensive] line was doing a fantastic job blocking all night. They make it easy for the rest of us to do what we do.”

After L-S evened the score came a key sequence of events, the first of which being senior captain Cal Kenney stuffing Jay Theriualt on a fourth-and-2 for a turnover on downs. L-S capitalized, as an O'Connell 13-yard score made it 21-14 with 39 seconds on the clock.

A quick three-and-out by Masconomet resulted in a punt, which was blocked by Sidari and recovered by Kenney, giving the Warriors the ball on the Chieftain 13-yard line with four seconds on the clock. That allowed Joey Caloiero (7-of-7 PAT) to trot out and boot a 30-yard field goal as time expired, giving his team a 24-14 lead at the half.

“That was huge for us,” Sidari said. “I felt if we were able to put some points up going into halftime, we'd be able to build off that. On the punt, I was lucky enough to be on the side where they had limited their blockers, so I had an open lane, which was awesome, and Cal coming up with it was incredible.”

L-S put the game away in the third quarter, outscoring Masconomnet 21-0 on a Peter Rizzotti 44-yard touchdown catch, a 27-yard run by O'Connell, and Sidari's 25-yard pick-six.